Innholdsfortegnelse for 196 i The Week Junior

The Loch Ness Monster is one of the world’s most famous and tantalising mysteries. From the first supposed sighting in AD565 to the present day, there have been numerous stories of a large unidentified creature lurking beneath the waters of Loch Ness, a lake near Inverness in Scotland. Now, a team of researchers have carried out a study that could point to Nessie’s true identity. Scientists from New Zealand’s University of Otago have tried to list all the living species in Loch Ness by taking DNA from water samples from the lake. DNA is a chemical that carries all the information about an animal’s body and characteristics. The team weren’t trying to identify the Loch Ness Monster, but the results offer clues as to what it could be. Among other…

18 September 2014 Scotland votes “No” in referendum On 18 September 2014, a vote took place in Scotland to decide if the country should become independent from the UK. The UK is made up of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Voters were asked “Should Scotland be an independent country?”, and 55.3% voted No; 44.7% voted Yes. After the result, Scotland’s First Minister at the time, Alex Salmond, called for the Scottish Parliament to be given more powers. In 2016, The Scotland Act was passed, which meant the country could have more say over its laws.…

Now that you’ve read a bit more about it, tell us what you think by voting in our poll at theweekjunior.co.uk/polls. Vote YES if you think that classrooms should have CCTV, or NO if you don’t. We’ll publish the results next week. The aim of the Big debate page is to present two sides of an issue fairly and objectively, in order to stimulate discussion and allow our readers to make up their minds. The views on the page do not reflect those of The Week Junior, and the page is not funded by third parties. The page is created in association with the English-Speaking Union, an educational charity helping young people discover their voice and realise their full potential. For more information, please see esu.org…

The most famous meat-eating plant is probably the Venus fly trap. This plant has leaves that snap shut, trapping insects inside. It is thought the plants evolved to eat insects because they could not get enough nutrients from the soil. This group of plants was a favourite of Charles Darwin, a British scientist who came up with the theory of evolution by natural selection (how living things survive and pass their characteristics on to their offspring).…

A new survey has shown that Matilda ranked second in a list of the top 10 modern icons of bravery. Environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg came top, with other examples including singer Ariana Grande and tennis player Andy Murray. Seven in 10 British children said that bravery is the most important attribute to have, ahead of intelligence and popularity. “Matilda’s character and story serve as a powerful reminder that even the smallest people have the power to make a big change in the world around them,” said Bernie Hall, of The Roald Dahl Story Company. Why not follow in the footsteps of Matilda and do something brave every day for 13 days? Here’s the list of the challenges – how many can you do? 1 Dress to stand out rather than…

Discovered in 1974 in the Afar region of Ethiopia, Lucy is a 40% complete skeleton from the ancient human species Australopithecus afarensis. She lived around 3.2 million years ago, stood about one metre tall and weighed around 25 kilograms. Lucy had a large jaw, low forehead and long dangly arms, similar to an ape. However, she stood on two feet like modern humans. Very little is known about how A. afarensis lived, but scientists think the species nested in trees for protection and ate plants including fruits, grasses and leaves. Scans of Lucy’s skeleton have led scientists to believe that she died falling out of a tree.…

Between 10 and 13 October, join thousands of people as they head to London’s ExCeL conference centre for New Scientist Live – a cutting-edge science festival full of exhibitions, talks and research. This year, visitors will find out why robots make good surgeons; hear from an engineer who built a jet suit like Iron Man; and discover the secrets behind space suits. There will also be opportunities to talk to some of the scientists whose ideas are changing the world. To get 15% off tickets to New Scientist Live use the code TWJ15. For a chance to win* a VIP family ticket, including a meeting with science and wildlife TV presenter Liz Bonnin, head over to The Week Junior’s Facebook page to enter our competition. Three runners up will also…

The Lost Fairy Tales: Fearless Girls Around the World by Isabel Otter and Ana Sender (Little Tiger Press) Forget about damsels in distress – the heroines of these stories are brave, strong and clever. Bringing together lesser-known fairy tales from all over the world, including from China, Fiji, Mexico and Nigeria, this collection is a fun and inspiring read. Pages & Co: Tilly and the Lost Fairy Tales by Anna James (HarperCollins Children’s Books) Tilly is a bookwanderer, who can travel inside books and talk to the characters she meets there. On a visit to Paris, she and her friend Oskar find themselves in the land of fairy tales, but characters are getting lost and stories are mixed up. Can Tilly save the day? Eight Princesses and a Magic Mirror…

Super sandwiches ● Your sandwich should include a portion of meat, fish or another source of protein, for example hummus or peanut butter. ● Make sandwiches more interesting by adding salad leaves, sliced tomato and cucumber to the filling. ● You don’t have to stick to sliced bread and rolls. Use a few small soft tacos as a base for your filling to make it feel like you’re eating a Mexican street feast. Or perhaps stuff it all in a large pitta and imagine you’re in a busy café somewhere in the Middle East. ● Don’t fancy any sort of sandwich? Cooked noodles, rice, couscous or pasta still taste great cold and can be combined in a pot with all the same veg, salad and protein that work in a…

Wildverse 2019 If writing a poem focused on a flower, animal, insect or interesting place sounds like your bag, it’s time to enter Wildverse 2019. Your poem can be any length and doesn’t need to rhyme. The entries will be judged by the author of The Garden of Lost Secrets, A. M. Howell, and the winning poems will be published in RSPB’s Wildlife Explorers magazine and read aloud on Fun Kids radio. You’ll also win a snazzy VQ radio. To get involved you must be under 18 years old and live in the UK. Find out how you can enter before the 11 October deadline at tinyurl.com/Wildverse2019…

Teacher’s name: Miss Hassett School: Rosendale Primary School, London “We have nominated Miss Hassett as Teacher of the Week because every lesson with her is amazing. We are very sad that she is moving back to Ireland, but we feel very lucky that she was our teacher this year. Miss Hassett always has a smile on her face. She is really fun and always puts us before herself.” Eva and Harry If we pick your teacher as Teacher of the Week, we’ll sendyourschoolthreefreeissuesof The Week Junior. Send your nominations, along with a picture of your teacher and your school’s full name and address, to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk…

1 Which of these animals do scientists believe could be the Loch Ness Monster? a) Shark b) Giant eel c) Seal 2 True or false? Boris Johnson’s brother is a member of the Labour Party. 3 Which animal was found in a hotel bathroom in the US? 4 How many times a day is the average person living in London recorded on a CCTV camera? a) 100 b) 200 c) 300 5 True or false? Helen Skelton broke the world record for the longest solo kayak journey. 6 Why do dogs keep their noses wet? 7 Which of these books was not written by Roald Dahl? a) Matilda b) Billionaire Boy c) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 8 True or false? A clarinet designed by a 10-year-old was sent to…

Zimbabwe’s colourful flag was introduced in 1980 when it became fully independent. The black band represents the fact that the majority of Zimbabweans are black. The red symbolises the blood shed during the battle for independence, the green represents the land and vegetation, and the yellow is for the country’s gold and mineral wealth. The white triangle is for peace, and shows a national emblem known as the Zimbabwe bird. The red star partly symbolises hope for the future.…

RAFAEL NADAL With a victory over Daniil Medvedev in the tennis US Open Final, Nadal has now won 19 Grand Slam titles. Grand Slams are the four biggest tournaments in tennis (the Australian, French and US Opens, and Wimbledon). Nadal is now one behind Roger Federer, who holds the men’s record with 20. AN INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCE A video of Alfie Bennett, 12, playing a piano at Birmingham’s New Street station, has gone viral. Bennett is autistic – a condition that affects how people experience the world around them. The video has been viewed more than 350,000 times, and Alfie’s parents hope it will raise awareness of autism. A RUNAWAY TORTOISE A pet tortoise has been found after wandering a mile and a half from its home in Kansas, US. The…

Sweet fans have been left disappointed after it was announced that the size of Quality Street tins will shrink this Christmas. Last year’s 720-gram tin will be replaced by a new 650-gram one. However, the good news for chocolate lovers is there will be more chocolates in the box and fewer toffees. Quality Street has been produced in Halifax, West Yorkshire, since 1936. The factory makes 12 million individual chocolates a day and packs 85 tins every minute.…

Helen Skelton was brought up on a remote farm, and her family wasn’t full of “runners and rock climbers”. However, she has since travelled the world on a series of record-breaking adventures. The former Blue Peter presenter has kayaked down the Amazon River, cycled to the South Pole and done a tightrope walk between the chimneys of Battersea Power Station in London. Now, Skelton is sharing the secrets of her success in a new book called Wild Girl: How to Have Incredible Outdoor Adventures. Although she’s got plenty of stamps in her passport, Skelton says you don’t need to go to the Amazon or Antarctica in order to have an adventure – there’s plenty to do here in the UK. She grew up in Cumbria, and would go bike-riding and…

Kate Sanders Team leader of predators, ZSL London Zoo Our African hunting dogs at ZSL London Zoo keep their noses wet because it aids their sense of smell. Mucus on their noses absorbs scents, which they can then lick and sample on the roof of their mouth. These dogs’ sense of smell is incredibly powerful, and allows them to track prey from miles away. A dog’s nose is also part of its cooling system, helping it to regulate its body temperature. Do you love animals? ZSL London Zoo’s Junior Zoo Academy is a great way to learn about creatures from all over the world. Find out more at zsl.org/experiences…

Five lucky winners will each get a set of books for their school and a collection of books for themselves. That collection includes the original Matilda, Matilda at 30 special edition, Matilda’s How to Be a Genius and Matilda’s How to Be Brave. To be in with a chance of winning, simply tell us which year Matilda was first published. Was it: a) 1978 b) 1984 c) 1988. Email your answer to competitions@theweekjunior.co.uk with MATILDA as the subject heading by 4 October. See theweekjunior.co.uk/terms for rules.…

A robot pilot has successfully passed its flying test and flown a plane. The ROBOpilot Unmanned Aircraft Conversion System was made by a US company called DZYNE Technologies, in partnership with the US Air Force. Unlike autopilot systems or drones, this robot actually takes the seat of a pilot. It has been built so that planes that already exist can be flown without a human. This is because the process of converting planes into unmanned flying vehicles, such as drones, is very expensive. Louise Dennis, from the University of Liverpool, says it is “an impressive achievement”. She explains that the robot sits “in place of a human pilot and has to physically work the controls and read the dials”. ROBOpilot is fitted with robotic arms to move the controls, and…

Explorers: Amazing Tales of the World’s Greatest Adventures by Nellie Huang. Illustrated by Jessamy Hawke (Dorling Kindersley) Set out on an adventure with this fascinating book about some of the world’s most amazing explorers. You’ll find out about more than 50 real-life adventures, from Ferdinand Magellan’s first trip around the globe 500 years ago to Barbara Hillary’s epic treks to the North and South Poles when in her 70s. Lots of factual information is accompanied by photos and stunning illustrations, including cross-sections of lost cities and Spanish galleons, and plenty of hand-drawn maps to show you the routes the explorers took.…

I have a confession to make. When I was young, I was terrified of Roald Dahl’s The Witches. Even Quentin Blake’s cover illustration of the Grand High Witch raising her black gloved claws above her followers had me transfixed. For a while I was convinced that a particularly scary primary school teacher was a child-hating witch in disguise. You never can be sure. That’s the magic of Roald Dahl, whose brilliant stories have the power to make you laugh out loud, shudder in horror, shed a tear and ultimately leave you uplifted. Luckily, for every Grand High Witch Dahl conjured up, he also created a courageous hero, like Matilda. Matilda was what all good heroes should be – bright, brave and kind. It’s a great read, and I’d also recommend…

Email your news, views and pictures to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk Please ensure you include your full name and address so that we can send you one of our Roving Reporter badges if your contribution makes it onto the page. We will only use the details you provide to arrange delivery of badges, and we will not share them with anyone else. By submitting your reports and pictures, you give consent to The Week Junior to print them in the magazine and digital editions. Please get your parent/guardian’s permission before sending anything to us.…

Follow The Week Junior on PopJam@TheWeekJunior. You can download the free PopJam app the App Store or Google Play. In Germany, two giant panda cubs were born at Berlin Zoo. This is good news as giant pandas are endangered. You said… “Awww they are adorable! I’m so happy because they are so rare” “So cute” Last week we asked you if people should get to keep the treasure they find. You said… “No, it should be given to museums and galleries and it shouldn’t be the property of the Queen” “Sometimes. It should be checked out first” “No, they should contact a museum and be a responsible citizen” Tell us what you think of this week’s issue and we’ll print some of the best comments here. The Week Junior is…

● CCTV stands for closed-circuit television. It is a system whereby cameras send live images to a small number of TV screens, which are then monitored. ● Public places, such as shops, often have CCTV in order to identify criminals and prevent crime. It is thought that there could be as many as 5.9 million CCTV cameras across the UK. ● The Thinking Schools Academy Trust, which runs some schools in the UK, is using CCTV in some of its classrooms. This is in order to show parents how their child has behaved in class. The trust says that this will encourage students to improve their behaviour.…

A nine-year-old model called Daisy-May Demetre, whose legs were surgically removed when she was born, has walked the runway at New York Fashion Week in the US. Demetre, who is from Birmingham, was born with a condition that means the bones in her lower leg were missing. As a result, she had an operation to remove the lower part of her legs. She started modelling at eight years old and was invited to New York after a designer saw her at London Kids Fashion Week. She is due to model at the Eiffel Tower in France next month during Paris Fashion Week. Her father, Alex Demetre, said, “Daisy walked it like a professional and had fun doing it. She felt really proud of herself for what she achieved.”…

Buy second-hand clothing Producing clothes has a huge impact on the environment. The industry uses toxic chemicals that can pollute water, and the production of a kilogram of cotton (enough for a pair of jeans and a shirt) uses up to 20,000 litres of water. Each week, 11 million items of clothing end up in landfill. Everyone can play a part in reducing the impact of the fashion industry by buying fewer new clothes. Instead, you should check out charity shops and share clothes that no longer fit. You could have a clothes-swap party with your friends to recycle clothing, or join in with Second Hand September, a UK campaign started by the international charity Oxfam, by visiting tinyurl.com/TWJ-SHS WOW! Shoes take 1,000 years to decompose. Try donating old pairs…

A wonder plant in Wales A million seeds of a “wonder plant” called seagrass will be planted off the Welsh coast. Seagrass provides a habitat for fish like cod, but 92% of it has been lost from the UK’s oceans in the last 100 years. The grass also absorbs carbon dioxide – a gas that contributes to climate change. Glaciers in Greenland In the last year, Greenland’s glaciers (huge masses of ice) have melted by a record amount. One glacier has lost as much as 100 metres of its thickness since 2004 because of climate change – a long-term change in the world’s temperatures that is caused mostly by human activity.…

On 13 September 2019, events marking Roald Dahl Day were held around the world to celebrate the authors birthday. Readers know him as one of the best children's authors of all time, loved for his books such as Fantastic Mr Fox, The BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and many other classic stories. This year's event focuses on Matilda, the title character from one of Dahl' s most popular books, and the bravery she shows. The life of Roald Dahl Roald Dahl was born on 13 September 1916 in Cardiff to Norwegian parents. After leaving school he travelled to Tanzania, in east Africa, and Newfoundland, in Canada, before joining the Royal Air Force (RAF) when the Second World War began. He worked as a fighter pilot during the conflict and…

Australia cricket team They won the fourth Test match at Old Trafford, Manchester, to keep hold of the famous Ashes prize. The Ashes is played by England and Australia roughly every two years. The win put Australia 2-1 ahead with one match left. Even if they lose the final Test and draw the series 2-2, they still get to keep the Ashes because they won the previous tournament. Sir Mo Farah On 8 September, the British runner won a record sixth Great North Run in a row. The Great North Run is a half-marathon (13.1 miles) run between Newcastle and South Shields, in the north-east of England. Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei won the women’s race, and the wheelchair race winners were Britain’s David Weir and Jade Jones-Hall.…

Who is your favourite explorer in this book? Amelia Earhart. She went against all the odds and dedicated much of her life to proving that women could do well in their jobs just like men, and have equal value. By air or on the sea – which is your favourite way to travel? I love the sea. I would choose to take a boat, ferry or kayak at every chance I get. One of my favourite adventures on the sea was an expedition cruise I took to Antarctica. We had to cross the notorious Drake Passage from the southern tip of Argentina to get there, but it turned out to be quite a smooth sailing journey, and once there, Antarctica was just so stunning and different from anywhere else in…

What is tag rugby? In tag rugby, players have a strip of material attached to their waist. The other team tries to remove it during the game. It is often played by younger players on smaller pitches, sometimes with boys and girls on the same side. There is no tackling. How old must you be? Clubs start their youth teams and rugby training at under-eight or under-nine level, usually with six-a-side games of tag rugby. How can I stay safe? Rugby is a contact sport, which means players will try to tackle and stop you. You learn how to make fair challenges, though, and there are rules about protecting players and what contact you can make. Headgear and mouth shields can be worn.…

Name: Noah “Finding out I was picked to play for the Europe and Middle East team was unbelievable! At first it didn’t sink in, but when my family, friends and teachers started congratulating me it sank in and I was overjoyed. The experience was amazing. I enjoyed going to Disney World and the food. My favourite part of the whole experience was playing against the other teams. I definitely made friends for life. We all have a group chat from when we first went to Bologna, and we use it frequently to keep in touch. The week before in Valencia really helped as we got to meet the coaches and had time to gel with each other. Coming back to London was hard as I missed my teammates and the…